RERUN REVIEW: Heroes “Season 3: Villains”

I don’t know what it is about Heroes, but I’ve been finding myself really struggling to keep up lately. The Season 3 arc “Villains” was only 13 episodes, yet it took me quite a while to push through everything. It’s not that the show is bad; I guess it’s just tedious? There are instances where I feel like they could’ve completely skipped over a scene or two without taking away from the value of the story. Oh, well. I still found “Villains” to be a good time, mainly because of the compelling villains (duh) and the additions of new powers.

As usual, there is A LOT going on in the Heroes-verse. At the beginning of the season, we learn who exactly shot Nathan Petrelli and why. This caught me completely by surprise (as I’m sure it did for everyone when the episode first aired). The audience was meant to assume it was Sylar who did the shooting, but it turns out that it was actually future Peter Petrelli who was the lone gunman. There are some moments revolving around the new future and why exactly Future-Peter shot his brother, but these instances are kept brief. It’s a little funny to think how, no matter what the heroes do, the future always seems to be one massive catastrophe. Maybe there won’t be any happy endings? Maybe a dystopian world of super-powered people is the only thing in store for the Heroes-verse?

The big bad of the “Villains” arc isn’t Future-Peter (he actually gets killed right away). Instead, we have Arthur Petrelli. Yep, Mr. P isn’t dead after all. He’s just in a comatose state, but not for long. Adam Monroe makes a surprise reappearance (yay David Anders!) only to have his powers sucked out of him by Arthur, which revives him completely. Arthur actually leeches the powers from others, similar to what Peter does, except Arthur totally sucks the abilities from his victims. It’s a pretty interesting power that makes Arthur a formidable enemy, even moreso than Sylar. However, we see that there is one weakness that all the heroes share: they can’t do much without their powers. Enter the Haitian.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Haitian. Initially portrayed as a villain, he’s proven himself to be more of a hero who is extremely loyal to his employers. His power of negating other people’s abilities makes him an awesome weapon in this battle of the heroes and villains. We even see some character development for him in one of the final episodes where he confronts and kills his evil brother. I think this moment really affected him and could change his outlook on the Heroes war. I can’t wait to see more of the Haitian in the future.

The most attractive part of this story was the collection of new powers thrown into the mix, mostly belonging to the villains. We meet a man with the ability to turn his body into metal, another man who grows stronger by feeding off of people’s fears, and yet another person who can actually create mini black holes with his hands. Even the Haitian’s brother demonstrates the unique ability of having impenetrable skin, which allowed him to become a sort-of false god amongst his village. I loved the creativity that went into designing these powers, and I’m super excited to see what else is in store.

One new character who I adored this season was Daphne, a speedster. She started out as Hiro and Ando’s “nemesis”, but came around and developed a strong alliance with them and Matt Parkman. During the eclipse, when everyone lost their powers, we discovered that Daphne had cerebral palsy before she was blessed with her abilities. My jaw dropped the moment we saw her appear on screen with her crutches. This was one of the best twists the show has had so far (and I’m happy it didn’t get spoiled for me!). Daphne is such a sweet yet strong character that you can’t help but root for her. She admits that her past as a thief was wrong, and she’s more than willing to atone for her previous actions, even risking going back in time to save Hiro. She’s definitely a new favorite character of mine.

I don’t know what was going on with Sylar in this arc. He’s a good guy, he’s a bad guy, he’s a wild card, etc. Sylar is a hell of a character with great development, but they need to figure out what to do with him. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him or am I supposed to hate him? One moment it’s one feeling, then the next moment it’s another.

One thing that drove me crazy was the concept of how Arthur and Angela Petrelli were possibly his parents. At first, I thought they were being metaphorical. I assumed that Angela was just saying that she would care for him like a mother. By the end of the season, it was apparent that they were being literal about all this. During a confrontation with Arthur, we then learn that Sylar is not really a Petrelli, leaving his background still rather ambiguous. Great. More family stuff. Watch Sylar’s dad actually be Noah Bennet. I’ll probably flip a table if that’s true.

Oh, and we know Sylar isn’t really dead. They need to stop faking us out with that.

I’m looking forward to the second half of Season 3, though I’m not sure what they can really do since the Company was blown up. I think it’s at least safe to say that Sylar will be returning as the big bad for the rest of the series.

Final Grade: B

+ The new villains and their powers were awesome, especially Knox, who had the ability to thrive on other people’s fears.

+ I liked the eclipse episodes and watching how our heroes survived without their abilities.

+ Robert Forster made an excellent villain as Arthur Petrelli, on par with David Anders’ Adam Monroe.

– Noah Bennet had a perfect shot on Sylar and Elle, but he waited for them to start banging before he shot at them. Why? Why did he wait that long?

– I HATE how often they would show a character, and when someone asked about their power, the response would be “You don’t wanna know…”

– There were too many unnecessary scenes that could’ve been skipped altogether for the sake of time.

Extra Thoughts

– Will we see what happens with Micah Sanders? We saw him briefly in one episode but then he’s a ghost the rest of the story arc. They can’t just kill off his mom and leave us hanging like that.

What were your thoughts on the “Villains” story arc of Heroes? Tell us what you think in the comments or on Twitter!

About the author

Alex Reale

From a young age, Alex knew he was destined to be a writer. He also harbored a deep infatuation with superheroes and comics. Luckily, he was able to combine these two passions through his role with A Place to Hang Your Cape, where he works as Junior Sidekick and Social Media Hero.

When he’s not writing for AP2HYC or working full-time as a content manager for a small business website, Alex is diligently at work on other creative projects including a fantasy novel collection and an independent comic series.